Blackhawks mixing up power play lines

Blackhawks mixing up power play lines

The power-play combinations were different when the Chicago Blackhawks hit the ice on Tuesday morning. Different combinations put together in the hopes for different results.

The Blackhawks power play is struggling once again, so coach Joel Quenneville was switching up the units on Tuesday to try and spark it. The top unit was Andrew Brunette, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp. The second unit featured Brent Seabrook, Nick Leddy, Patrick Kane, Dave Bolland and rookie Jimmy Hayes.

Its another experiment, one the Blackhawks hope shake them from their 1-for-22 power play skid.

I think thereve been games where had chances and didnt score, and others where it hasnt been as good as it could be, defenseman Duncan Keith said. We had a good practice today on it. Both units looked good, so well give it our best (shot) next game.

For the most part, the Blackhawks have overcome their power-play issues lately. But last night it hurt them. They had three opportunities in the last 11 minutes of the game -- including a four-minute effort when Toews was high-sticked -- and came up empty. They were down just one goal on their final power-play attempt.

Marian Hossa said its sometimes been a mix of tough luck and poor planning.

I think some nights we had pretty good looks but the puck didnt go in, and on some nights we werent on the same page. We need to know what were going to do before we get on the ice, he said. Maybe an ugly goal gets us going again.

The Blackhawks will take any type of goal on that power play. They liked how the experiment was working on Tuesday -- the 6-foot-6 Hayes, who scored his first NHL goal on Monday, is a pretty good option in front of the net. But scoring them in practice is one thing. Getting them in a game is another.

Thats what you look for: just get one (goal) and you get more confidence, more puck awareness and patience. Suddenly everybody has more cohesiveness, coach Joel Quenneville said. But last night we miss an empty net or two and now it gets worse. You have to change it up when its not going well. Lets try to get a fresher look and maybe get one of those ugly ones and kick-start it.

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For the third time since the event was created, the Blackhawks will participate in the Winter Classic, facing the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 2, 2017.

To build some hype for the Central Division showdown, which will feature two teams that find themselves battling for the top seed in the Western Conference, Ryan Hartman and Trevor van Riemsdyk of the Blackhawks squared off with Joel Edmundson and Robby Fabbri of the Blues in EA Sports' NHL 17.